“Glance over the camera cards we pulled yesterday,” Arthur said as he sat down. “I don’t know the real facts about the flu, but its mortality has to be reported around ninety percent.”
“My dad told me it was over ninety. He was a CEO at a hospital in Little Rock,” Andrea said, moving Pam to the crook of her arm.
“That means ninety percent of people who caught the Rudolph flu will die?” Shawn asked. “I had it and got better, and Beth never got sick.”
“Were you very sick?” Arthur asked, tapping his keyboard.
“No,” Shawn said, leaning over and watching Arthur’s hands and the screen. “The stomach flu I had two years ago was much worse.”
“That’s what I mean,” Arthur said, taking a sip of coffee. “Clarksville should have around a thousand people, but I’ll kiss your ass if there are two hundred there that are walking around. There may be a thousand, but six hundred are trying to cough up their lungs.”
Setting his mug down, “Russellville is three times bigger and should have more survivors, but I’ll wax my nipples if there are five hundred people left walking around in that town,” Arthur snorted.
“It has the most crazies,” Shawn noted, hearing a tiny burp from Lucas.
Unable to stop it, Arthur gave a visible shiver as it ran up his body. Being a nurse, he had seen mental disorders but very few true insane cases. The ones called crazy were truly insane and most looked like they’d never been sick with the flu. Some would just walk, others would charge anything, and then some would just stand and stare off. The one thing they all had were wide, gaping, wild-looking eyes that spoke of madness.
Anyone who looked at one wouldn’t get close. More than once, they had seen survivors run from the crazies. One morning rolling into town, they’d passed one beating a car with a metal pipe that had a chunk of concrete on the end. When they drove out of town six hours later, he was still beating the car which was little more than scraps of metal and fiberglass by then.
Two day later when they went back, they saw dogs eating the body with the pipe still clutched in one hand, and the only things recognizable about the car were the engine and four tires.
Arthur had almost shot one when they’d been loading up stuff at a computer store. She had walked across the parking lot, but hadn’t headed for the store. Instead, she’d just walked into the wall of the building and stumbled back before running into the wall again. She’d continued doing that when they’d left and for all Arthur knew she was still there, running into the building’s wall.
Remembering all that, Arthur again shivered. “Yeah, they freak me the fuck out.”
“You think those gangs are going to be a problem?” Shawn asked as Arthur hit a key and a slideshow started, showing pictures from the camera cards.
“In time, but they will have problems with each other and they won’t come this far out into the sticks for some time,” Arthur said, reaching over and taking a sip as he watched the screen. “I’m seeing kids, but not a lot of little ones,” he mumbled.
“They can’t survive without help,” Andrea mumbled.
“I know, but I’m seeing people and when an adult sees a kid, their first impulse is to help,” Arthur said, watching the screen.
“They hide,” Shawn mumbled.
“Okay, that makes sense,” Arthur said, staring at the screen.
“What are you trying to figure out?” Andrea asked, getting up.
“How much shit we are about to face,” Arthur answered and the chatter died down instantly. “I really expected the shock of this to last a little longer before all of the bad elements started pulling together.”
“You said those gangs wouldn’t be a problem,” Shawn reminded him.
“Shawn, they’re bullies. Bullies are pussies at heart and if you stand up to them, they run away. People are going to stand up to them and group together doing it. Those are the ones I’m worried about. In time, some will see that it’s easier to take than to make,” Arthur said, tapping the keyboard. “That Dean is sure trying to find us.”
Shawn leaned over and saw the teenager that he hadn’t wanted to join them. “I see his ass again, I’m shooting his ass.”
“Let me do it,” Arthur suggested, tapping the keyboard and the slideshow resumed. “Killing someone isn’t like TV and it affects everyone differently. I would prefer you to have a little more time to prepare for that.”
“I’ll kill anyone that tries to hurt us,” Shawn declared.
Reaching over, Arthur patted Shawn’s leg. “That is something else entirely. That isn’t killing, it’s protecting.”
“Never thought about it like that,” Andrea mumbled.
“How many more trips to town do we have?” Shawn asked.
“None for a few weeks,” Arthur said. “It’s time to start the fence around the house and then around the animals. I’m not worried about gangs finding us yet and animals shouldn’t be a problem until winter. But crazies, I’m worried about,” Arthur admitted. “They just wander around, so one could wander their ass through the woods.”
“I’ve never seen one eat,” Shawn said, pulling Lucas into the crook of his arm. “I’ve seen them drink water from puddles.”
“They eat,” Arthur said with no emotion and everyone looked at him. “Don’t ask,” he almost growled.
“Won’t they climb over the fence?” Tony asked.
“When the fence is finished, they can try and die,” Arthur told him.
“How big will the fence be?” Kirk asked sitting down at the table.
“Ten-foot-tall with barbed wire at the top and will enclose twenty-five acres,” Arthur answered. “It will enclose all the greenhouses, the methane cubes, power plant and house.”
“Methane cubes?” Shawn asked.
Looking over at Shawn, Arthur winked. “You’ll
